As we not only enter the home stretch of the NHL season but near the trade deadline, there is still a major question that has yet to be answered by the New Jersey Devils. What is their solution in goal? Through 55 games, New Jersey has gone through three different netminders with mixed results. Despite the recent success of rookie Nico Daws, the Devils can’t and should not rely so heavily on an inexperienced goalie who is coming off of offseason surgery. The team is running out of time to find a reliable, established answer.
Related Post: Devils Consider Options for Goaltending Ahead of Trade Deadline
The team is currently sitting several points out of both the top three in the Metropolitan Division as well as the last wild card spot. While goaltending isn’t the only issue with this team, it is the biggest and highest priority that needs to be addressed. New Jersey reportedly was on the verge of a deal for Calgary Flames goalie Jacob Markström before the deal fell through due to salary retention. It’s still possible they circle back, but it’s not certain. However, there is another option out there that is more appetizing for the short and long-term success between the pipes for New Jersey. That is Juuse Saros of the Nashville Predators.
Earlier this season, it pretty much looked like it was 99% certain that Saros would be staying in Tennessee. Fast forward to today, and it seems more like a 50/50 possibility that he could very well be on the move. If Saros is truly available for a trade, then this is a no-brainer for Fitzgerald to pursue and acquire the Finnish netminder. Despite the struggles he’s had this season, at 28 years of age, Saros has been one of the game’s elite goalies over the past few seasons. He’s the type of goalie who can make the key saves and win you crucial games down the stretch, as well as in the playoffs.
Prior to this season, Saros was a top-six finalist for the Vezina trophy for three straight years. Last year shows you much more of who the goalie is and what he can be. He finished with a 46.7 saves above expected and a .919 SV% in 64 games. It’s much more likely that his struggles in 2023-24 have been due to the lack of help in front of him in Nashville rather than any sort of a physical decline in his play. He’s a top 5 goalie that would push the Devils from being a fringe playoff team to a Stanley Cup contender.
There are a couple of questions that need to be answered, however, when it comes to acquiring and keeping the goaltender in New Jersey long-term. The first is to explore what a deal for Saros could potentially look like. Ryan Novozinsky of NJ.com suggested in a recent piece that in order to make a deal for Saros work that the Devils would have to pay a hefty price to the Predators. This would involve a young “right now” piece, a top prospect, and a draft pick. So with that in mind, let’s put together a deal that fits those requirements and would be fair to both sides.
For the “right now” player, I would say Dawson Mercer fits that bill. Mercer, 22, has a very successful career already in his first few years in the league. He hasn’t missed a single game yet, as he’s suited up in all 219 available games. He’s a really good two-way player who can play both on the wing and center. Their speed, agility, and athleticism make him a really good candidate as a top-6 forward for a team like Nashville. He is an RFA at season’s end who certainly deserves a pay raise, but I’d imagined that it wouldn’t be too difficult to get a deal done.
Alexander Holtz would be another young player who could be included or in place of Mercer, depending on what Nashville prefers. The former seventh overall pick in the 2020 NHL draft has had an up-and-down short career in the NHL. While he has shown his scoring abilities a ton, he’s been shunted down to the Devils’ fourth line due to his growing pains in developing his 200-foot game. A fresh start and top-6 position would potentially be what Holtz needs to get going.
Lastly is the prospect. In regards to the prospect, I think Seamus Casey would be the fit. The former 2022 second-round pick defenseman has done well in his time at the University of Michigan as well as internationally. He brings a good offensive game while slowly but surely getting his defensive aspects where they need to be. Even though the Predators have a good amount of prospect defensemen, you can never have too many. The draft pick round will depend on what else is in the deal, but in this case, I could see the Devils giving up a 2024 or 2025 first or second-round pick.
When it comes to getting Saros locked in long-term, that’s certainly going to be tricky. His current contract runs up at the end of the 2024-25 campaign. The Devils don’t have to do a deal asap, but they would rather get it done sooner rather than later. Saros will certainly ask for a pay raise from the $5 million per year he makes. The talk around Saros camp is that they’ll be looking at Connor Hellebuyck’s seven-year, $59.5 million extension he received as a starting point. If that’s a similar deal that Saros wants, will the Devils be willing and ok with paying $8 million per year to a goalie?
They do have the money to make a deal happen while still keeping the core in place. However, Fitzgerald will probably have to let go of guys like Tyler Toffoli and someone else in order to make a Saros deal happen and have money left over for extensions on Luke Hughes and Simon Nemec down the road. It is certainly a major financial risk, but one that the Devils have to make in order to win a Stanley Cup.
There’s still a lot of questions to be answered and it may not even be a guarantee that Saros gets dealt. However, if he’s truly made available, Fitzgerald and the Devils must pursue and acquire the elite netminder. They need one in order to win. Don’t just take my work for it, look at Jack Hughes’ opinion on goaltending:
“When you get the saves, (it’s) much easier to win.”
Great deep dive into fixing the Devis’ goaltending woes.